This is what the Redskins mentor stressed when he spoke with The Washington Times' Zac Boyer on Dec. 16. Shanahan said he will talk things over with team owner Daniel Snyder at the conclusion of the 2013 NFL season.

"I'll get a chance to sit down with Dan at the end of the season, after the next two games, and I'll give him my opinion in the direction that I think the franchise could go, and he's gonna give me his idea what he wants to do.

"He's the owner of the football team. But all we could do at the end of the season is communicate, and I think we have that type of relationship where we can talk and be honest to each other, but we're not gonna do that until the end of the season."

And what did Shanahan tell Boyer when he was asked to confirm if he wouldn't be resigning after the season?

"Oh yeah, that's accurate," the head coach quipped.

For his part, Joseph White of The Associated Press writes Shanahan could be back with a new defensive coordinator and a new offensive coordinator. Given the way the team has performed -- Washington is currently 20th in total team defense, allowing an average of 31 points per game -- current defensive coordinator Jim Haslett "could surely be on the bubble," per White.

However, White points out having a new offensive coordinator for 2014 "had seemed improbable" because the person peforming that job function is Shanahan's son, Kyle.

White also says the elder Shanahan "gave a rambling answer" when asked about his coordinators situation and eventually mentioned former Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak, who was his offensive coordinator with the Denver Broncos and is currently unemployed.

"It doesn't matter if Gary Kubiak is my offensive coordinator, Mike Heimerdinger, Jim Haslett -- a coordinator's coordinator. They've got a job to do. And they're going to do it. If they don't do it, then the chances are they're not going to be a coordinator for long."

In his Dec. 16 article, ESPN's John Keim cites a CBS Sports report which says Kyle Shanahan had been benefiting from favoritism from his father. In light of this, Keim wrote,"Mike Shanahan refuted the notion of any favoritism."

Mike Shanahan also told Keim he can't do anything much about information leaking to the media and that Robert Griffin III will be his starting quarterback next season.

"I can guess where they come from. Hey, not everybody's happy and when you do have three wins, it can be a little tough. A lot of things do come out. It's part of this business. But you've got to be tough enough to work through it, and I think our organization and team is tough enough to work through it.

"When you look behind your shoulder and you know that guy (RGIII) is pretty good, that makes you work a little harder in the offseason. It makes you work a little harder during the week."

This is also precisely what he told White.

"Robert is clearly our starting quarterback...I think Robert's got a lot of confidence in himself and he should. He's got all the ability in the world and he will get better and better every day. And I think that's one of the reasons why we decided to not play him for the last three games. We wanted him to go into the season fully healthy."

Since becoming Washington Redskins head coach in 2010, the 61-year-old Shanahan has amassed a 24-38 (.387) record in 62 games, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.